Thread twining machine



July 12, 1966 Filed Feb. 5, 1964 G. C. ANSELM ETTI THREAD TWINING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 28 F2 II Q y 1966 e. c. ANSELMETTI 3,

THREAD TWINING MACHINE Filed Feb. 5, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 12, 1966 G. c. ANSELMETTI THREAD TWINING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. s,' 1964 July 12, 1966 e. c. ANSELMETTI THREAD TWINING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 5, 1964 July 12, 1966 G. c. ANSELMETTI THREAD TWINING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 3, 1964 United States Patent 3,260,043 THREAD TWINING MACHINE Giovanni Carlo Anselmetti, Turin, Italy, assignor to Nazionale Cogne Societal per Azioni, Turin, Italy Filed Feb. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 341,963 Claims priority, application Italy, Nov. 19, 1963, 24,683/63 8 Claims. (CI. 57-84) This invention refers to a thread twining machine having braking means automatically operated upon breakage of the thread.

The invention refers more particularly to a thread feed device comprising two pressure rolls, namely a driving roll acting as a feed cylinder and a roll driven by the former in an opposite direction thereto, the thread being caught between the rolls and pulled forward by the rotation of said rolls.

Devices are known which stop operation of the machine upon breakage of the thread avoiding inherent inconveniences.

The object of this invention is to provide a device of the type referred to above which is rugged and simple in construction and is at-the same time capable to operate with a maximum sensitivity to breakage of the thread in order to stop operation of the machine but which will also be insensitive against normal vibration and variations in tension in said thread during normal operation of the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device wherein the tension of the thread itself is used to control the braking means and thereby assure ready stoppage of the machine eliminating any lag period between the breaking of the thread and stopping of the machine, during which lag period thread would be continuously fed through the machine.

The invention will now be described with reference to the annexed drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the stopping device according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view of the device in its operative condition on line II-II in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 showing the device in its stopping condition;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view of the device on line IV-IV in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a front view on an enlarged scale of device;

FIGURE 6 is a'perspective view on an enlarged scale of the roll frame and FIGURE 7 is a plan view thereof;

FIGURE 8 shows the working and stop position of the roll frame in full and dash lines, respectively;

FIGURES 9 and 10 show the working and stop position of the thread guide, respectively;

FIGURES 11, 12 and 13 are cross sectional views on an enlarged scale of the lock device in three different positions;

FIGURES l4 and 15 are perspective detail views of the levers and frame of the stop device.

The twining machine is equipped as usual with the a plurality of automatic stop devices matching in number the threads processed on the machine. The thread unwinds from av spool 26 loosely mounted on a pin 29. A spindle 27 is rotated about a vertical axis and winds a thread 25 travelling through a twining ring 28.

Each twining element on the twining machine comprises a pressure roll 1 bearing on an underlying driven cylinder 2 and carried by a frame A comprising side walls 6, 7 mounted on pivot pins 16.

Parts 30 of the twining machine frame support a bar 3,260,043 Patented July 12, 1966 ice any two adjacent supports 8 and comprises two parallel side members 6 and 7 connected together by cross members 18, 19 as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 as well as in FIGURE 5.

As will be seen from the latter figure, each end of the pivot pin 17 supports the side member 6 of frame A and the side member 7 of frame A.

The upper ends of the side members 6 and 7 are formed with two U-shaped recesses 6a and 7a, FIGURES 6, 7. Beneath the U-shaped recesses 6a, 7a the side members 6 and 7 are formed with edges 6b and 7b on which the pivots 21 for the pressure roll 1 hear. The side members 6 land 7 form together a fork supporting the pressure r0 1.

Each pressure roll 1 comprises journal studs 21 extending from the roll ends, rotatably fitted within a flexib'le plastic sleeve 22, FIGURE 5, provided at one end with a radially inwardly directed circumferential flange which fits within a groove in the stud.

The studs 21 on the roll 1 fitted with their sleeves 22 are mounted in the U-shaped recesses 6a and 7a. When the pressure roll 1 rotates, the stude 21 rotate within the sleeve 22, which are kept against rotation with the studs. The sleeves 22 are kept stationary in the U- recesses 6a and 7a.

The sleeves 22 are resiliently deformable for removal from the studs 21 for replacement.

It will be seen that the axis of the pivot pins 17 for each frame A is located below the axis of the driving cylinder 2. The U-recesses 6a, 7a are located above the driving cylinder 2. On breakage of the thread, the frames A are oscillated about pivot pin 17 from an operative position, FIGURE 2, where the U-shaped recesses 6a and 7a are vertically above the rotation axis of cylinder 2 to a lock position, FIGURE 3, where rear surfaces 6c, 70 on the frame abut against the bar 9, FIG- URE 10.

In the first mentioned position of the frame the roll 1 is held between the U-recesses 6a and 7a so that the roll 1 rests by virtue of its own weigh-t on the driving cylinder 2 and is driven by said driving cylinder in an opposite direction thereto, FIGURE 9.

Since the thread 25 travels between the roll 1 and cylinder 2 in said first position of the frame the thread is fed to the twin-ing spindle 27.

In the other position of the frame, FIGURES 3 and 10, the angular displacement of the frame causes the roll 1 to be removed from the cylinder 2. On moving from the first to the second position, the studs 21 slide vertically in the recesses 6a, 7a while they bear on the edges 6b, 7b. The roll 1 is no longer driven by the cylinder 2 and the thread feed to the spindle 27 is discontinued.

The rotational axis of pivot pin 17 is seen to be located horizontally below the rotational axis of cylinder 2 somewhat offset to the left from the vertical extending through the latter axis, FIGURE 2.

It has been found that by locating the axis of 17 in the lower left quadrant between the horizontal and vertical line, respectively, extending through the axis of cylinder 2, frame A is so balanced as to be very easily pivotable from either of its positions to the other.

The cross member 18 of the frame A has connected thereto a bracket 20, FIGURE 4, which comprises a top leg 29a, intermediate leg 20!) and a bottom leg 200, FIG- URE 10. The top leg 20a has fixed thereto a thread guide 14. Consequently, the spacing of the thread guide 14 and roll 1 is maintained constant whether the roll 1 is being rotated by cylinder 2, FIGURES 2 and 9, or is in the iniopenative position of FIGURES 3 and 10. This is advantageous in maintaining the thread properly wound around the roll 1. It will be seen in FIGURE 9 that, when the roll 1 is being driven by cylinder 2 the bottom leg Ztic abuts against the bar 9. This prevents the frame A from pivoting about pivot 17 by a greater extent than required.

It will be seen in FIGURES 3 and 4 that a stop member 10 which is carried by an arm 11 which in turn is supported by transverse member 9 is provided on the machine. Said stop member comes into contact with the cylindrical surface of roll 1 when the thread 25 breaks and the frame rotates counterclockwise to the position seen in FIGURE 3.

The stop member 10 presses against the cylindrical surface and not only acts as a braking means for roll 1 but also compresses the thread thereon against said roll and thereby helps prevent the thread from running off the roll 1.

The thread 25 past the thread guide 14 travels between the roll 1 and cylinder 2. The thread is wound around roll 1 through about 200 and then the thread returns to the thread guide 14 where it runs over an upper arm of said guide and then again between the roll 1 and cylinder 2, whence it travels over an idle pulley 15 mounted at the end of lever 3 to be delivered thereafter to the spindle 27. By travelling of the thread twice between the roll 1 and cylinder 2 a sufficient tension can be set up in the thread to maintain the pulley 15 in a lowered position. The lever 3 carrying the pulley 15 is fixedly secured to a strap 24 (FIGURES 5, 11, 12, 13 and 15). Fixedly interconnected elements 3 and 24 comprise a swing lever means B capable of oscillation about a pivot 16. The end of the lever B remote from pulley 15 carries a counterweight 4. It will be seen from FIG- URE 15 that strap 24 comprises a central web portion and parallel side flanges. The element 3 of swing lever B is a round bar bent at an angle, the strap 24 being fixed thereto as by welding by its correspondingly shaped web portion. The swing lever B is pivoted about pivot 16 by means of aligned holes 24b in the strap 24. Also pivoted about pivot 16 by means of aligned holes and located between the parallel flanges of said strap 24- is a U-shaped lever 5 (see FIGURE 14). An abutment element 5b interconnecting the side flanges of lever 3 is adapted to abut a stop member 23 on the frame A when the frame is in a working position, FIGURES 2 and 11. One side flange of lever 5 extends by its end remote from abutment 511 further than the other side flange beyond the hole 50 by a tapering portion 5a, FIGURES 11, 12, 13 and 14.

In FIGURE 11 the position of swing lever B and frame A under working conditions is clearly seen, thread being continuously fed by the roll 1 and cylinder 2 and over the pulley 15. The tension of the thread maintains the lever B in a position in which the idle pulley 15 is lowered against the force of counterweight 4. Part of lever B is in contact with the top portion of abutment portion 5b on the lever 5, FIGURE 11. The abutment element 5b further abuts by its rear portion stop member 23 on the frame A. As long as the thread is continuously running over the pulley 15, swing lever B is maintained in the position seen in FIGURE 11 by the tension of the thread, lever 5 is in turn maintained in the position seen in FIGURE 11, wherein it abuts stop member 23 and holds the frame A in the operating position of the device.

FIGURE 12 shows an intermediate position during the motion performed by the above described parts on breakage of the thread 25, FIGURE 13 showing the position ultimately taken by said parts. Since the thread is no longer under tension, the force of the counterweight 4 causes lever B to rotate counterlockwise. At the first stage of rotation of lever B, lever 5 is unaffected because of the degree of independent movement of lever B relative to lever 5. This independent movement ceases when lever B reaches the position seen in FIGURE 12 in which it contacts the tapered end 5a of lever 5. When this occurs further counterclockwise rotation of lever B swings lever 5 counterclockwise, whereby abutment 5b is released from stop member 23 and the frame A is no longer restrained in its operating position. When abutment element 512 no longer abuts stop member 23, frame A, which is in a condition of unbalance about pivot 17, spontaneously pivots counterclockwise and moves roll 1 away from cylinder 2, FIGURE 10. r

In the working position the taper of the extension So on lever 5 permits small angular oscillations of lever B without affecting the position of lever 5. This freedom of movement is essential since, when thread is running continuously over pulley 15 a certain amount of vibrations due to slight variations in tension of said thread are unavoidable, whereby lever B is capable of slight oscillation about pivot 16. If the levers B and 5 were interconnected for ready transmission of any slight oscillation of one to the other lever without any freedom of independent movement between the two levers then, either the frame would be released from its operative position at the slightest vibration or decrease in tension in the thread or, alternatively, the frame would have to be made relatively insensitive to changes in tension in the thread so as to be stable under normal operating conditions. This problem is solved by means of this invention by making the frame extremely sensitive to an actual breakage of the thread while at the same time making it insensitive to normal vibration and variation in thread tension. This is accomplished as explained above by providing two separate levers 5 and B and a degree of freedom of independent movement of lever B relative to lever 5. This degree of freedom of. movement allows for variations in tension in the thread and consequent normal slight oscillation of lever B, though also providing a positive and sensitive means for releasing the frame from its operative position upon a breakage of the thread. As soon as the thread breaks the lever B, under the action of counterweight 4, will rotate counterclockwise and immediately release the lever 5 from its'locking engagement with the frame A. The operation of the device is as follows: in the normal working position (FIGURE 1) the tension of the thread at idle pulley 15 on lever B maintains levers B and 5 in a position as shown in FIGURE 11. In said position the abutment rnember 5b on lever 5 abuts against stop member 23 on the frame A. Interengagement of elements 5b and 23 maintains the frame A and roll 1 in their operating position, FIGURE 2. On breakage of the thread 25 the thread tension is annulled at pulley 15 and counterweight 4 swings the lever B counterclockwise; after an initial independent oscillation of lever B, the latter contacts the tapered extension 5a on lever 5 which is carried along counterclockwise thereby releasing abutment element 5b from stop member 23. Said release is facilitated by the arcuate profile of the abutment element 512, the radius of curvature of which has a center which is above the axis of pivot 16 as illustrated in FIGURES 11, 12 and 13.

Once frame A is no longer restrained by abutment element 5b, frame A automatically takes its inoperative position shown in FIGURE 3. The frame A takes this position by swinging counterclockwise as seen in FIG- URE 3 under the action of three forces, namely, a force due to unbalance of the frame A and roll 1 about pivot 17, reaction due to rotation of cylinder 2 on roll 11, and residual tension in the thread 25 acting on roll 1. Braking member :10 immediately stops rotation of roll 1, consequently the feed of the thread through the roll 1 and cylinder 2.

In parallel relationship to bar 9 is a horizontal shaft 13, FIGURES 1 and 2, which is supported at its ends by machine frame parts 30. The shaft 13 has secured to one end a lever 32 by means of which an operator can angularly displace by hand shaft 13. Attached to shaft 13 are a number of levers 12, one for each thread line of the machine. The levers 12 are each adapted to raise lever B to its operating position when the thread is not yet under tension. This is effected on starting after knotting of the broken thread, when it is necessary for the lever B to be manually held in the operating position shown in FIGURE 2. The operator will rotate the control lever 32 counterclockwise, as seen in FIGURE 2, to thereby lift the lever 12 to the dash line position, whereby lever B is moved from its inoperative position to the operative position. Upon the establishment of tension in the thread 25 following starting of the machine, the lever 12 could be returned to its original full line position as seen in FIGURE 2. Lever 12 is made of flexible material so that, when the thread breaks in one line only of the machine and it is desired to restart said one line, it is not necessary to operate the control lever 32. The operator merely grasps the under portion of lever 12 by his fingers and bends lever 12 upwardly to thereby rotate lever B to its operating position. Levers 12 are made flexible so that they can be individinally bent upwardly about the point where each lever 12 is connected to shaft 13 without need for an attendant to station at the end of the machine to operate control lever 32.

What I claim is:

1. A thread twining machine comprising a thread feed roll and a driving cylinder having mutually parallel axes of rotation, a stationary machine frame, a frame for an automatic stop device, said pressure roll being rotatably mounted in said frame, means pivotally mounting said frame on said stationary machine frame whereby said frame is pivotable from a working position at which said feed roll is in tangential contact with said driving cylinder to an inoperative position at which said pressure roll is in spaced relationship to said driving cylinder, a first and second lever coaxially pivotably mounted on said stationary machine frame, said first lever being a swing lever carrying an idle pulley at one end and a counterweight at its other end, said second lever comprising an abutment element adapted to engage said frame and thereby constrain said frame in its working position, said swing lever at one position thereof causing said abutment element to engage said frame, said swing lever being movable from said one position to a position where it causes said abutment element to become released from said frame, said swing lever being freely movable relative to said second lever through a limited angular extent between the two aforementioned end positions of said swing lever.

2. A thread twining machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axis of said frame pivot means is spaced from the axis of said driving cylinder in the same general direction as said driving cylinder axis is spaced from said feed roll axis as well as in the same general direction in which said frame moves from its working to its inoperative position.

3. A thread twining machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axis of said frame pivot means is located within the lower left quadrant defined by horizontal and vertical lines, respectively, extending through the center of the driving cylinder.

4. A thread twining machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame comprises a thread guide in a fixed spaced relationship to said feed roll.

5. A thread twining machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said swing lever carries at its ends an idle pulley and counterweight, respectively, and comprises "a rod bent at an angle having attached thereto intermediate said ends a channel shaped strap, said strap having a web connecting opposite side flanges, said web being fixedly attached to said rod, said flanges being pivotally attached to said machine frame, said second lever being generally of U-shape with its branches pivotally attached to said machine frame on the same pivotal axis as said swing lever, said U-shaped lever being fitted between said flanges of said swing lever, one branch of the U-shaped lever extending beyond its pivotal axis by tapered section, the closed end of the U comprising said abutment element, whereby when said swing lever is in an angular position determined by the fact that said counterweight is balanced by the thread tension acting on said pulley during twining, said swing lever bears aganst said abutment element and holds said abutment element in engagement with said frame in said working position of said frame, and when said swing lever starts moving angularly in a direction urged by said counterweight consequent on breakage of the thread, said swing lever initially freely rotates relative to said U-shaped lever till said swing lever abuts the tapered section of said U-shaped lever, where-after further angular movement of the swing lever sets said U-shaped lever in angular movement.

6. A thread twining machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said feed roll has a journal stud on each side thereof rotatably supported by said frame through the interposition of a flexible plastic sleeve, said sleeve comprising an end having an inwardly directed circumferential flange adapted to fit into a groove in the inner axial end of said stud, said sleeve being resiliently deformable for removal from said stud.

7. A thread twining machine as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a resetting lever pivotally attached to said stationary machine frame and engageable with said swing lever, whereby on rotation of said resetting lever said swing lever is engaged thereby and angularly moved to said position where said swing lever causes said abutment element to engage said frame, said re-setting lever being resiliently deformable.

8. A thread twining machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the angularly movable frame is provided with a stop member abutting said second lever in the pressure roll operating position, said stop member being released by effect of the angular movement of said second lever effected by the swing lever.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,808,415 6/1931 Julia 57-84 X 3,019,587 2/ 1962 Weiss 57-84 OTHER REFERENCES Hamel, German application, 1,078,026, published March 1960.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

D. E. WATKINS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A THREAD TWINING MACHINE COMPRISING A THREAD FEED ROLL AND A DRIVING CYLINDER HAVING MUTUALLY PARALLEL AXES OF ROTATION, A STATIONARY MACHINE FRAME, A FRAME FOR AN AUTOMATIC STOP DEVICE, SAID PRESSURE ROLL BEING ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME, MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID FRAME ON SAID STATIONARY MACHINE FRAME WHEREBY SAID FRAME IS PIVOTABLE FROM A WORKING POSITION AT WHICH SAID FEED ROLL IS IN TANGENTIAL CONTACT WITH SAID DRIVING CYLINDER TO AN INOPERATIVE POSITION AT WHICH SAID PRESSURE ROLL IS IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP TO SAID DRIVING CYLINDER, A FIRST AND SECOND LEVER COAXIALLY PIVOTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID STATIONARY MACHINE FRAME, SAID FIRST LEVER BEING A SWING LEVER CARRYING AN IDLE PULLEY AT ONE END AND A COUNTERWEIGHT AT ITS OTHER END, SAID SECOND LEVER COMPRISING AN ABUTMENT ELEMENT ADAPTED TO ENGAGE SAID FRAME AND THEREBY CONSTRAIN SAID FRAME IN ITS WORKING POSITION, SAID SWING LEVER AT ONE POSITION THEREOF CAUSING SAID ABUTMENT ELEMENT TO ENGAGE SAID FRAME, SAID SWING LEVER BEING MOVABLE FROM SAID ONE POSITION TO A POSI- 